Industry Insights

The Ultracapacitor Market size is expected to reach USD 8,049.1 million by 2024, growing at a CAGR exceeding 25% over the next eight years. Ultracapacitors also referred to as supercapacitors are free of typical battery characteristics such as cold intolerance, limited lifecycle, and critical charging rates. Engineering innovations continue to advance the ultracapacitor technology and are anticipated to be a primary factor instigating the convergence of supercapacitors and batteries. This is further expected to strengthen the combination of pulse power design and specific energy storage in future application areas including residential power,public transportation, medicine, and construction equipment which may also drive product demand.

As the supercapacitors market strives for wireless and portable devices with ingenious features crammed into a compact space, key companies focus on developing enhanced power supply solutions. These products are being developed as an alternative to pulse batteries; however, to achieve this feat, manufacturers need to ensure that these devices have an extended shelf-life as compared to batteries. The growing demand for long battery lifetime and effective wear & tear properties due to chemical reactions is expected to propel the Ultracapacitor Market demand over the forecast period.

Price, a long considered enigma, negatively affected the market over the past few years; however, the advent of compact, inexpensive supercapacitors characterized by enhanced conductivity, high surface area and superior physical and chemical stability, herald an era for new applications.

The integral advantages of ultracapacitors to create enhanced products have resulted in increasing adoption particularly by the manufacturers of Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), Adjustable-Speed Drives (ASDs), and fuel cells.

Power Type Insights

The power segment includes products which are less than 10 volts, 10 volts to 25 volts, 25 volts to 50 volts, 50 volts to 100 volts, and above 100 volts’ products. The 50 volts to 100 volts segment accounted for more than 20% of the overall market share in 2015 and is anticipated to witness growth of more than 25% over the next eight years. This increase is attributed to the benefits such as high operating temperature, making it ideal for applications including starting systems, ride through/power conditioning, automotive subsystems, wind turbine pitch control, backup power/UPS, and renewable energy systems.

Application Insights

The application segment comprises automotive, electronics, industrial, and energy. Automotive emerged as the fastest growing segment with CAGR exceeding 22% over the forecast period owing to the increased adoption of electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Supercapacitors benefit several applications that require low-power support for critical memory systems. These devices provide solutions in several high-power applications such as consumer electronics, Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), industrial lasers and electric & hybrid vehicles.

Ultracapacitors provide faster acceleration, extended battery life and increased range in electric vehicle applications. The automotive segment led by electric vehicles accounted for over 15% of the revenue share in 2015. Further, the technology provides load-leveling extending the life of electric vehicle batteries. They exhibit the capability of absorbing regenerative braking energy, thereby limiting the high charging current to the battery.

Electronics segment catered to a sizeable market share in 2014 owing to the independent and instantly available backup power source in the solid state disk drive to ensure that no data is lost in the event of power failure.

Regional Insights

Asia Pacific is anticipated to exhibit growth of over 25% over the forecast period owing to a vigorous demand for energy efficient products. The region is witnessing the need for ultracapacitors used for energy re-filling in buses, trams, and trains. North America captured a sizeable share in the overall revenue in 2015 and is expected to witness moderate growth over the next eight years. This is attributed to the increasing demand across the residential, power, and public transportation sector. Further, stringent government regulations to reduce carbon footprint along with robust R&D initiatives to incorporate battery components to manufacture hybrid supercapacitors provide potential opportunities in the European industry.